A tough test to start season

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This article was published 08/10/2024 (362 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON — Forget about dipping their toes in to test the waters. The Winnipeg Jets are being tossed straight into the NHL’s deep end to start the new hockey season.

Although Game 1 of 82 is hardly sink or swim, a strong showing here on Wednesday night against a talented Edmonton Oilers team many pundits believe will be lifting Lord Stanley next spring would at least make a sizeable splash.

“We have to be ready to go,” said Scott Arniel, who will make his official Jets head coaching debut at Rogers Place.

“And it isn’t just a handful of guys on our team being their best. It’s all of our guys being ready to go. It’s all of those little details we’ve been stressing through camp, through practice. The hard work we’ve put in here the last couple of weeks, now we gotta do it on a consistent basis, shift after shift, against a really good hockey team.”

It has been 162 long days since the Jets played a meaningful game and you get the sense players and coaches are tired of talking about the past, specifically their speedy exit from the playoffs that essentially sent a terrific 2023-24 campaign swirling down the drain.

“We’re excited for this year. We’re kind of over last year,” winger Nikolaj Ehlers said following the team’s skate in Winnipeg.

“We’ve talked about it, got through it. We know what we need to do to give ourselves a better chance of being in the right place. We got the team to do it. So it’s about everyone buying in and doing the right things, the guys staying in the right mindset and having fun.”

“We know what we need to do to give ourselves a better chance of being in the right place. We got the team to do it.”– Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers

No doubt the sight of Connor Hellebuyck in the dressing room Tuesday afternoon brought the joy level up a bit. The reigning Vezina Trophy winner had been away from the team for a few days tending to a personal family matter. but was back in time to have a quick on-ice workout with goalie coach Wade Flaherty before hopping on the charter to Edmonton.

Hellebuyck will get the start in net against Connor McDavid and company.

“The best team in the West,” is how defenceman Neal Pionk described the Oilers. “They proved it last year and they were one win away from winning the Stanley Cup. They’ve got the two best players in the world. It’s always a fun challenge and it’s always a fast-paced game between us and Edmonton.”

Funny thing is, the Oilers sure didn’t look elite in the first few weeks of last year, going 2-9-1 in the first dozen games which led to an early coaching change as Kris Knoblauch replaced Jay Woodcroft.

Just don’t go reminding the current group of the big hole they were forced to dig themselves out of — or how painfully close they came to winning it all only to fall in seven games to the Florida Panthers.

“Enough about last year. Enough about last year,” a clearly irritated McDavid told Edmonton media on Tuesday.

“There’s definitely lessons that you learn that we’ll take from last year and remember this year. But last year is over and done with and we’re starting a new year.”– Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid

“It’s about this year. We’ve talked a lot about last year. A lot of questions about it. I’ve answered all of them. We’re moving on. It’s about this year. There’s definitely lessons that you learn that we’ll take from last year and remember this year. But last year is over and done with and we’re starting a new year.”

That sure sounds like a player ready to come charging out of the starting gate, doesn’t it? For obvious reasons, the Jets are preparing to see the best version of their former Smythe Division rivals.

“They got off to a slow start but then they were one of the best teams in the league for that long stretch in the second half,” said Arniel, who attributed much of that success to sensational special teams.

“All of a sudden, they got in that groove. We were in that groove last year as well. When you’re feeling good about yourself and as a hockey team, the way you’re playing night in and night out, things take care of themselves.”

This is the second year in a row Winnipeg opens up in Alberta. They’ll be looking for a different outcome after falling 5-3 to the Calgary Flames last October. The Jets started 1-3-0 before going on a tear and finishing 52-24-6 before losing to the Colorado Avalanche in their opening round playoff series.

Just like Edmonton, Winnipeg fancies itself a legitimate championship contender and has returned most of the same faces from a year ago.

“We want to play fast. We want to make them defend.”– Jets head coach Scott Arniel

“We’re going to have to play fast. They’re quick. They’ve got some people that can close on you,” said Arniel.

“We talked about coming out of our end, our neutral zone regroups, that we’re not holding onto pucks, not going D-to-D, not slowing things down. We want to play fast. We want to make them defend.”

Edmonton has the NHL’s oldest roster, with an average age of 30.3 based on the opening-night lineups submitted to the league. That alone tells you this veteran, experienced group is very much in “win now” mode. Winnipeg is tied for 14th-oldest at 28.6. The rebuilding Buffalo Sabres are the youngest squad at 25.3.

The Jets have lost three consecutive season openers in enemy territory, with the last triumph coming in 2018 against the St. Louis Blues.

They’ll return home after this one-game trip and play the next four at Canada Life Centre, starting with Friday night’s visit from the Chicago Blackhawks. The Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins will also be stopping in to say hello.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg